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[♪upbeat music♪]
[voice on radio] Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole.
[P. Bloodgood] Residents of Poquoson, Virginia, feel and hear explosions
coming from nearby Plum Tree Island,
a former military aerial bombing and gunnery range
now a national wildlife refuge.
The explosions felt were of two World War II 250-pound bombs
found lying, unexploded, many years after they were dropped.
They were located and identified for detonation
as part of the ongoing Formerly Used Defense Site cleanup effort
to remove dangerous, unexploded munitions.
Last winter they found some World War I
era munitions.
This year they found at least two
250-pound bombs.
[Bloodgood] For McCauley, the process is just the beginning.
As the refuge manager, he wants to know what is out
on the more than 3,000-acre refuge he is responsible for
so he can make a determination of what activities might possibly be allowed
on the site in the future.
If we can provide safe access for fishing, hunting, wildlife observation,
interpretation, environmental education, or photography,
then we're encouraged to do that.
[Bloodgood] Safety is the main concern, not in just what future activities
may or may not be allowed but also a concern for the wildlife that calls the refuge home.
We want to make sure that as we're doing this vital work
we're causing the least impact to the wildlife on the refuge as possible.
[Bloodgood] The contractors working for the Army Corps of Engineers
will begin taking soil samples as part of the next step
in determining the way forward to best handle Plum Tree Island--
a way forward that may include hearing and feeling more explosions
from the onetime bombing range.
In Poquoson, Virginia, >>Fire in the hole.
Patrick Bloodgood. [explosion]
[♪upbeat music♪]
Check out more Corps news at usace.army.mil.
[♪♪]